The Player
The Player refers to the character who plays the SUPERHOT'' system within the beta/full release, the '''Protagonist' refers to the character of the SUPERHOT Prototype. During SUPERHOT's development, there have been two separate protagonists - one in the Prototype released in 2013 who followed the orders of The Mystery Man, and another from the Beta and Full Releases. In both versions not much is known about both protagonists, though in the Prototype the Protagonist is supposedly male, and in the Beta/Full Releases the Player is an enthusiast of video games. SUPERHOT Prototype In the free prototype of SUPERHOT the Protagonist is thrust into several different situations, all with firearms, enemies and the goal to eliminate all targets in range. In it the Protagonist displays fast reactions and thinking. In the Prototype, there was never a fourth-wall break, unlike the beta and full releases which revealed that the protagonist was being played by the Player within the game's story. Beta Release In the Beta Release a story was added to SUPERHOT, along with a different protagonist referred to as the Player. Much like the Protagonist from the Prototype, (almost) all sequences involve the Player killing groups of armed, red, silhouetted men in various scenarios, ranging from an elevator ambush to an arrest attempt in a metro station. It is implied that instead of just one person there are many others like the Player, spread around the world in various different situations, all under the control of the SUPERHOT system. In the Beta Release, it is shown that you are actually someone who is playing as the main character in the SUPERHOT system, the Player. The Player is informed by a friend of a crack that allows them to get into the SUPERHOT system. Thinking SUPERHOT is purely a game, the Player completes several missions. After a few missions, the Player is disconnected from the SUPERHOT system and promptly reconnects, only to be disconnected again and again. The system begins to demonstrate awareness of the Player's gaming spree, displaying messages such as "SOMEONE IS USING THEIR CRACK" after the Player wrecks a server room and kills the supposed creators of the SUPERHOT crack. Afterwards the system displays "WE KNOW" on-screen before disconnecting. After the Player receives a message from his friend, it is shown that the SUPERHOT system is in control of the Player's machine - words the Player types are erased and replaced with other sentences, making their friend believe they have had enough of the game. Despite this oddity the Player re-enters the system and continues to play until they are pulled from their current scenario and introduced by the system near his own house, explaining in a "flash-feed" that everything happening 'in-game' is real. After the flash-feed ends, the Player is once again disconnected and is messaged by the System itself who orders them to stop using SUPERHOT out of pride. The system threatens them The Player re-enters the system anyway and plays a few more levels, this time being disconnected after every single one. After a certain level is finished, the screen displays "REDIRECTING" and the Player appears right outside their home as the system orders them to enter, Upon approaching the screen starts to get distorted as they near the entrance, and after a few feet the screen becomes a third-person camera of the Player sitting on their chair. The Player's appearance can be seen briefly on the window before the camera is cut back to them. The Player enters the building and can choose to either punch themselves, hit themselves or remove their headset. Any option results in the Player disconnecting. Shortly after, the system sends another message to the player, asking them how their head feels. After a brief set of questions, none of which render any useful responses, the System tells the Player to leave for good and ends the chat. After this, the Player is brought back to the game's main menu, and executing any files other than "QUIT.EXE" will result in the screen being filled with messages telling you to quit. Upon quitting, the system will display one last message before the game closes: "REMEMBER. WE ARE WATCHING." Full Release The February release picks up where the Beta concludes, allowing the Player to continue playing. Eventually the Player is put into several situations and sees different screens which indoctrinates them into becoming one with the system. After several levels the Player is ordered to HOTswitch into the Core, a red pyramid in the center of a room. The HOTswitch is interrupted several times as the Player is pulled away from the Core, requiring them to kill several waves and pick up the transfer until completion. As the HOTswitch concludes the Player is suspended above the core and given the ability to destroy the minds of several targets inside the room. After every target is killed the system responds saying the Player is still weak and that something is holding them back. The Player takes control of a person inside their room, holding a gun to their head and tasked with "freeing their mind": as the Player has completely transferred their mind and molded with the Core, they kill their original body. At the ending, the Player has become one with the core and has sent several friends an advertisement for SUPERHOT to lure them. Abilities While SUPERHOT has two different protagonists, both share similar abilities, although the context varies. While the Player is playing a 'video game' and unknowingly controlling strangers and the Protagonist is possibly only one person performing killing spree after spree, they both have the complex ability of being able to control the flow of time. The Player and Protagonist are both capable of wielding firearms and killing with punches, though there are differences: the Protagonist is capable of killing in one punch, whereas the Player requires a few to take down a single person. And while both protagonists are capable of wielding firearms, the Protagonist has only ever been seen using pistols while the Player is seen using a multitude of different weapons ranging from firearms (pistols, shotguns, rifles) to melee weapons (bats, swords) and throwable objects (cases, skulls, vases). Unlike the Protagonist, the Player is also capable of tossing and launching anything in hand hard and fast enough they will either break upon contact or penetrate targets e.g. tossing empty pistols to stagger targets and tossing swords to spear them. In addition, their multitude of weapons allows the Player to shoot, block, and even slice bullets in half mid-air. In addition to such a wider range of offensive capabilities the Player also possesses an ability the Protagonist does not: the ability to 'HOTswitch', swapping bodies with whoever they are looking at, with a cooldown between each HOTswitch. The body the Player previously controlled will appear stunned as they turn from black to red, their head exploding shortly after. Connection There is a possibility the Protagonist followed a similar yet merciful fate to the Player: the cold opens of both versions of SUPERHOT as well as the aesthetic are similar. This points towards the idea that the Protagonist is also using the SUPERHOT system. However the one inconsistency to take into account is that at the end of the Prototype the Protagonist obeys orders to commit suicide. Players may chalk this up to simple mind control from the SUPERHOT system, as if the Protagonist is slowly being controlled by them similar to the Player. But not only has there been no indication the Protagonist has became one with the Core (they do however freeze in midair before hitting the ground, in an inversion to the Player floating above the Core), the Protagonist would not have been able to set themselves free like the Player has. This suggests the Protagonist's actions were not of his own, but from being under the control of a player of SUPERHOT, possibly even the Player in the Full Release. Category:Character